Americans keep shopping, despite everything
Midday on Black Friday outside the Pittsfield, Mass., Wal-Mart
So after all the worrying, the first weekend of Christmas shopping turned out to be ... okay. From CNNMoney:
The National Retail Federation (NRF), an industry trade group, said shoppers spent $41 billion in the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend. The average shopper spent $372.57, up 7.2% from the $347.55 spent last year.
What we've seen so far this fall is a big pull-back in spending on cars and on housing-related stuff (building materials and furniture). That, and spending on gasoline is way down because gas prices are way down. But spending on necessities other than gas isn't down, and people are still headed to the Wal-Mart and buying stuff for Christmas (I bought three board games and a fishing rod, although they were meant for pre-Christmas use so maybe they shouldn't count). I'm not sure, though, whether we should take this as a sign that things aren't nearly as bad as many (myself included) thought, or that when everybody wakes up and it's January, things will really go off a cliff.
-
1
We in New England appreciate you New Yorkers who come to shop. You could have driven another hour or so to New Hampshire and avoided sales tax altogether.
-
2
Vacuous materialism saves the day!
-
-
4
Hey, there's nothing vacuous about buying Trivial Pursuit.
there is if the version you buy is the new one with an "easy" questions option...
personally, I think that spending is up this year because retailers slashed their prices early in anticipation of a bad Xmas season --- they figured they're better off with cash flow than inventory at this point. I mean, I was actually tempted to do my shopping early.
In other words, I don't expect the season itself to be good for retailers -- and that most retailers will be crying in the next couple of weeks.
-
5
Pluk,
.
I am a bit more morbid in my prognostication. I think that retailers slashed their prices to get people in the door before they run out of cash!!!
.
Hate to bust the bubble, but somebody has got to say it. This is just pentup shopping fanatics who will soon (and I mean very soon) run out of cash.
.
Yeah, we are finally in recession, so we can finally start working on getting out of one.
- foxjust Thanks to Bama fans for reminding us we needed to buy TP! (Turns out we're fine on detergent). Oh, and nice game #ironbowl - 17 hours ago
- foxjust 'Myth' is one of the NYT's 100 Notable Books of 2009. Not 'good' or 'best,' mind you. But notable http://bit.ly/4vO2kG - 23 hours ago
- foxjust Now that the kind of incisive reporting we expect from the Gapperman! RT @johngapper The Haier factory in Qingdao is very big - 1 week ago
Most Popular »
- Chutzpah
- UPDATE: Guess Who Came To Dinner?
- Two Game-Changing SF Novels I Read This Fall
- State Dinner, Uh, Fashion
- The Five Greatest Gadgets of All Time
- 1,000 Words: Gate-crasher Edition
- Gleeks and Shrieks: Fox Unveils Midseason, Glee Gone Until April
- Happy Thanksgiving From The AppleGeeks
- Little Town Bombards Daschle with Healthcare Woes
- Time to panic again! Or, on second thought ...
- The 00's: A Decade from Hell
- Helicopter Parents: The Backlash Against Overparenting
- Scientology : The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power
- Black Friday Sales Were Encouraging, Retailers Say
- Germany's Doubts About Afghanistan Grow After Revelations About Air Strike
- Will Dubai's Financial Problems Spread Around the Globe?
- Why Big Shopping Bargains Are Bad News For America
- How to Get Smarter, One Breath at a Time
- Obama's First Year Policies Need Time to Settle In
- Why the Philippines' Maguindanao Massacre Happened
Quotes of the Day »
RSS